The 1958 NCAA University Division football season was notable in that it was the first to feature the two-point conversion. On January 13, 1958, the 11-man NCAA Rules Committee unanimously approved a resolution to allow teams to choose between kicking an extra point after a touchdown, or running or passing from the 3-yard line for 2 points. University of Michigan athletic director Fritz Crisler said at the meeting in Fort Lauderdale, "It's a progressive step which will make football more interesting for the spectators," adding that the rule "will add drama to what has been the dullest, most stupid play in the game."[2]

During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A. The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in the annual NCAA Football Guide of the "unofficial" national champions. The AP poll in 1958 consisted of the votes of as many as 203 sportswriters. Though not all writers voted in every poll, each would give their opinion of the twenty best teams. Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined. Although the rankings were based on the collective opinion of the representative sportswriters, the teams that remained "unbeaten and untied" were generally ranked higher than those that had not. A defeat, even against a strong opponent, tended to cause a team to drop in the rankings, and a team with two or more defeats was unlikely to remain in the Top 20. The top teams played on New Year's Day in the four major postseason bowl games: the Rose Bowl (near Los Angeles at Pasadena), the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans), the Orange Bowl (Miami), and the Cotton Bowl (Dallas).

Most teams did not begin play until September 27. On September 13, Kentucky beat Hawaii 51-0 in a game in Louisville, and attempted the 2-point conversion, but without success.[4] One of the first successful 2-point conversions in an NCAA game happened when Iowa State Teachers College hosted Bradley University at Cedar Falls, Iowa on September 13. Max Huffman carried the ball over twice on conversion attempts to give the Panthers of Iowa Teachers a 29-12 win over the Braves.[5] On September 20, #6 Mississippi and #8 Texas Christian were among the winners, beating Memphis State (17-0) and Kansas (42-0) respectively, but the Top Five schools had not yet started play.

The poll for the five 0-0 teams was 1. Ohio State 2. Oklahoma 3. Auburn 4. Michigan State and 5. Notre Dame.

September 27#1 Ohio State narrowly beat SMU at home, 23-20, and fell to third in the next poll. #2 Oklahoma, on the other hand, rolled over visiting West Virginia 47-14, and rose to first place. #3 Auburn beat Tennessee in Birmingham, 13-0, and #4 Michigan State beat California 32-12. #5 Notre Dame beat Indiana 18-0, but fell to 7th, while
#8 Army, which beat South Carolina 45-8, took the place of the Irish.

October 4#1 Oklahoma got past visiting Oregon, 6-0, and dropped to second. #2 Auburn, which beat UT-Chattanooga 30-8 at home, moved up to the top spot. #3 Ohio State beat Washington at home, 12-7. #4 Michigan State played Michigan to a 12-12 tie, and fell to 9th. #5 Army beat Penn State 26-0. #7 Notre Dame, which beat SMU in Dallas, 14-6, returned to the Top Five.

Poll: 1. Auburn 2. Oklahoma 3. Army 4. Notre Dame 5. Ohio State

October 11#5 Ohio State won at Illinois, 19-13
#1 Auburn won at Kentucky, 8-0. #2 Oklahoma sustained a 15-14 loss at Dallas in their annual meeting with the Texas Longhorns.
In South Bend, Indiana, the visiting #3 Army Cadets (or Black Knights) beat #4 Notre Dame, 14-2, and were voted #1 in the next poll.
#6 Wisconsin, which beat Purdue 31-6, and
#9 Michigan State, which beat Pittsburgh 22-8, rose in the polls, to put Big Ten schools at #3, #4 and #5. The poll:

Poll: 1. Army 2. Auburn 3. Ohio State 4. Wisconsin 5. Michigan State

On October 18 at West Point, New York, #1 Army beat Virginia 35-6. #2 Auburn tied with Georgia Tech 7-7 in Atlanta and fell in the polls. #3 Ohio State beat Indiana 49-8. #4 Wisconsin lost to Iowa at home, 20-9, and #5 Michigan State began a five-game losing streak with a 14-6 defeat at Purdue. The Spartans would finish the season with a 3-5-1 record after starting 2-0-1. #7 Texas (24-6 over Arkansas) and #9 LSU (32-7 over Kentucky) rose in the polls.

Poll: 1. Army 2. Ohio State 3. LSU 4. Texas 5. Auburn

October 25 For the top-ranked teams, a tie was only slightly better than a loss. #1 Army played to a 14-14 tie against the Panthers at Pittsburgh, and #2 Ohio State tied with Wisconsin at home 7-7. #3 LSU beat Florida 10-7, and the win was enough to propel it to first place. #4 Texas lost to the Rice Owls in Houston, 34-7. #5 Auburn beat Maryland at home, 20-7. #7 Iowa, which beat Northwestern 26-20, rose to 2nd in the next poll.

November 22
In New Orleans, the #1 LSU Tigers crushed Tulane 62-0, to close their season with a 10-0-0 record. They would face the Clemson Tigers in the Sugar Bowl. Behind them, were the #2 Auburn Tigers, who beat Wake Forest at home 21-7. #3 Army was idle as it prepared for the annual Army-Navy game. #4 Oklahoma crushed Nebraska 40-7. #5 Wisconsin beat Minnesota to close its season at 6-1-1. #6 Iowa, which beat Notre Dame 31-21, returned to the Top 5.
1. LSU 2. Auburn 3. Oklahoma 4. Iowa 5. Army

On November 29#2 Auburn defeated Alabama 14-8 in Birmingham to finish its season at 9-0-1. #3 Oklahoma won at Oklahoma State 7-0.
In Philadelphia, #5 Army beat Navy, 22-6, to finish its season 8-0-1.

The final AP Poll was released on December 1, and
the #1 LSU Tigers, at 10-0-0, won the AP Trophy with 130 of the first place votes. The other 73 votes were spread among 12 schools, including Rose Bowl bound #2 Iowa (17), #3 Army (13), #4 Auburn (9), #5 Oklahoma (10), #6 Air Force (2), #7 Wisconsin (13), #8 Ohio State (3), and #9 Syracuse Orangemen. The United States Air Force Academy football team, nicknamed the Falcons, had a 9-0-1 record in only their second year of playing college football, and accepted a bid to face Texas Christian University in the Cotton Bowl.

Notably, the Tangerine Bowl initially extended a bid to Buffalo. However, when the bowl organizers told the school that its two black players would not be allowed to play, the team unanimously voted to turn down the bid.[7] The Bulls did not appear in a bowl game until a half century later in 2008.

In 1958, United Press International (UPI) conducted a "small college" coaches' poll for the first time. Mississippi Southern (today's "Southern Miss"), which had beaten North Carolina State and Virginia Tech en route to a 9–0 record,[10] was ranked first from start to finish.[11]

United Press International (coaches) final poll
Published on December 4[12]

1.
Halfback (American football)
–
A halfback is an offensive position in American football, whose duties involve lining up in the backfield and carrying the ball on most rushing plays, i. e. a running back. The halfback position is one of the more glamorous positions on the field, sometimes the halfback can catch the ball from the backfield on short passing plays as he is an eligible receiver. Occasionally, they line up as wide receivers. When not running or catching the ball, the responsibility of a halfback is to aid the offensive linemen in blocking. Before the emergence of the T-formation in the 1940s, all members of the backfield were legitimate threats to run or pass the ball. Most teams used four offensive backs on every play, a quarterback, the quarterback began each play a quarter of the way back, the halfbacks began each play side by side and halfway back, and the fullback began each play the farthest back. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the position was both an offensive and defensive position. There has also been a shift in most offense’s dependence on halfbacks, however, the average output of the halfback has not changed. Older systems require the halfback be proficient at throwing the ball downfield as well, many of the “scat backs” in the modern era produce more total yards and touchdowns than their ancestor “power backs” by breaking off big plays on outside runs and receptions. The spread offense and the hurry-up offense change the halfback’s role, the spread, the hurry-up, and the pro-style offenses dominate American football but the “smash-mouth” style of play is far from extinct. A power-running scheme is often utilized to counter an effective Spread attack, as it allows a team to control the clock and this strategy is utilized in NFL, college, and all other forms of American football. The need for “power backs is very prevalent, alongside the need for “scat backs”, in the past few decades the role of the halfback has gone through a great shift as most offensive game plans are now fueled by creativity and finesse instead of raw force. Stamina and durability is more important than ever in the hurry-up offense, on the other hand, speed is often valued over strength, and pass-catching ability is sometimes valued over blocking proficiency. Power was once the most desired trait in a halfback, but has been taken by the need for a diverse skill set. In the last few decades the running back’s individual share of output has declined as quarterbacks are generally treated as the cornerstone of the offense. The demands of an up-tempo offense also favor a multiple running back system, from the dawn of American football through the 1880s most offensive schemes focused on the running game. In a running based game plan the halfback was typically the cornerstone of the offense and this system focused on a physical run attack concentrated in the inside of the field, and therefore depended on a skilled “power back”. There were no forward passes, and pure speed took a backseat to tackle-breaking and bucking ability, there was a focus on physicality over finesse, as this type of playing style earned the moniker of “smash mouth” football

2.
University of Michigan
–
The University of Michigan, frequently referred to simply as Michigan, is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817 in Detroit as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania,20 years before the Michigan Territory became a state, in 1821, the university was officially renamed the University of Michigan. It moved to Ann Arbor in 1837 onto 40 acres of what is now known as Central Campus, the University was a founding member of the Association of American Universities. Considered one of the foremost research universities in the United States, Michigans body of living alumni comprises more than 540,000 people, one of the largest alumni bases of any university in the world. Besides academic life, Michigans athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are known as the Wolverines. They are members of the Big Ten Conference, the University of Michigan was established in Detroit on August 26,1817 as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, by the governor and judges of Michigan Territory. Judge Augustus B. Woodward specifically invited The Rev. John Monteith and Father Gabriel Richard, Monteith became its first President and held seven of the professorships, and Richard was Vice President and held the other six professorships. Concurrently, Ann Arbor had set aside 40 acres in the hopes of being selected as the state capital, but when Lansing was chosen as the state capital, the city offered the land for a university. What would become the university moved to Ann Arbor in 1837 thanks to Governor Stevens T. Mason, the original 40 acres was the basis of the present Central Campus. The first classes in Ann Arbor were held in 1841, with six freshmen, eleven students graduated in the first commencement in 1845. By 1866, enrollment increased to 1,205 students, many of whom were Civil War veterans, Women were first admitted in 1870. U-M also became the first American university to use the method of study. Among the early students in the School of Medicine was Jose Celso Barbosa, who in 1880 graduated as valedictorian and he returned to Puerto Rico to practice medicine and also served in high-ranking posts in the government. In 1920 the university reorganized the College of Engineering and formed a committee of 100 industrialists to guide academic research initiatives. The university became a choice for bright Jewish students from New York in the 1920s and 1930s. Because of its standards, U-M gained the nickname Harvard of the West. During World War II, U-Ms research supported military efforts, such as U. S. Navy projects in proximity fuzes, PT boats, and radar jamming. After the war, enrollment expanded rapidly and by 1950, it reached 21,000, as the Cold War and the Space Race took hold, U-M received numerous government grants for strategic research and helped to develop peacetime uses for nuclear energy

3.
Los Angeles
–
Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital

4.
Pasadena, California
–
Pasadena /ˌpæsəˈdiːnə/ is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of 2013, the population of Pasadena was 139,731. Pasadena is the ninth-largest city in Los Angeles County, Pasadena was incorporated on June 19,1886, becoming one of the first cities be incorporated in what is now Los Angeles County, the only one being incorporated earlier being its namesake. It is one of the cultural centers of the San Gabriel Valley. The city is known for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game, the original inhabitants of Pasadena and surrounding areas were members of the Native American Hahamog-na tribe, a branch of the Tongva Nation. They spoke the Tongva language and had lived in the Los Angeles Basin for thousands of years, Tongva dwellings lined the Arroyo Seco in present day Pasadena and south to where it joins the Los Angeles River and along other natural waterways in the city. The native people lived in thatched, dome-shape lodges and they lived on a diet of acorn meal, seeds and herbs, venison, and other small animals. They traded for fish with the coastal Tongva. They made cooking vessels from steatite soapstone from Catalina Island, the trail has been in continuous use for thousands of years. An arm of the trail is still in use in what is now known as Salvia Canyon. When the Spanish occupied the Los Angeles Basin they built the San Gabriel Mission and renamed the local Tongva people Gabrielino Indians, today, several bands of Tongva people live in the Los Angeles area. The Rancho comprised the lands of todays communities of Pasadena, Altadena, before the annexation of California in 1848, the last of the Mexican owners was Manuel Garfias who retained title to the property after statehood in 1850. Garfias sold sections of the property to the first Anglo settlers to come into the area, Dr. Benjamin Eaton, the father of Fred Eaton, much of the property was purchased by Benjamin Wilson, who established his Lake Vineyard property in the vicinity. Wilson, known as Don Benito to the local Indians, also owned the Rancho Jurupa and was mayor of Los Angeles and he was the grandfather of WWII General George S. Patton, Jr. and the namesake of Mount Wilson. Berry was an asthmatic and claimed that he had his best three nights sleep at Rancho San Pascual, to keep the find a secret, Berry code-named the area Muscat after the grape that Wilson grew. To raise funds to bring the company of people to San Pascual, Berry formed the Southern California Orange and Citrus Growers Association and sold stock in it. The newcomers were able to purchase a portion of the property along the Arroyo Seco and on January 31,1874. As a gesture of good will, Wilson added 2,000 acres of then-useless highland property, at the time, the Indiana Colony was a narrow strip of land between the Arroyo Seco and Fair Oaks Avenue

5.
New Orleans
–
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U. S. Census, the New Orleans metropolitan area had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502. The city is named after the Duke of Orleans, who reigned as Regent for Louis XV from 1715 to 1723, as it was established by French colonists and it is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music, and its celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is referred to as the most unique in the United States. New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the Mississippi River, the city and Orleans Parish are coterminous. The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north, St. Bernard to the east, Plaquemines to the south, and Jefferson to the south and west. Lake Pontchartrain, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north, before Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish was the most populous parish in Louisiana. As of 2015, it ranks third in population, trailing neighboring Jefferson Parish, La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded May 7,1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of the Kingdom of France at the time and his title came from the French city of Orléans. The French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris, during the American Revolutionary War, New Orleans was an important port for smuggling aid to the rebels, transporting military equipment and supplies up the Mississippi River. Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez successfully launched a campaign against the British from the city in 1779. New Orleans remained under Spanish control until 1803, when it reverted briefly to French oversight, nearly all of the surviving 18th-century architecture of the Vieux Carré dates from the Spanish period, the most notable exception being the Old Ursuline Convent. Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, thereafter, the city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, Creoles, and Africans. Later immigrants were Irish, Germans, and Italians, Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city. The Haitian Revolution ended in 1804 and established the republic in the Western Hemisphere. It had occurred several years in what was then the French colony of Saint-Domingue

6.
Ohio State Buckeyes football
–
Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio since 1922. Football was introduced to the university by George Cole and Alexander S. Lilley in 1890, Ohio State was a football independent from 1890 to 1901 before joining the Ohio Athletic Conference as a charter member in 1902. The Buckeyes won two conference championships while members of the OAC and in 1912 became members of the Big Ten Conference, Ohio State won their first national championship in 1942 under head coach Paul Brown. Following World War II, Ohio State saw sparse success on the field with three separate coaches and in 1951 hired Woody Hayes to coach the team. Under Hayes, Ohio State won over 200 total games,13 Big Ten championships and five national championships, following Hayes dismissal in 1978, Earle Bruce and later John Cooper coached the team to a combined seven conference championships between them. Jim Tressel was hired as coach in 2001 and led Ohio State to its seventh national championship in 2002 with a win in the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State won seven Big Ten championships under Tressel and appeared in eight Bowl Championship Series games, on November 28,2011, two-time National Championship winning coach and Ohio native Urban Meyer became head coach. Meyer led his team to five championships in his first five seasons as well as a school record 24 straight victories. He led OSU to both the Big Ten and the first College Football Playoff National Championship of its kind in the 2014 season, giving Meyer his third title overall. In the spring of 1890, George Cole, an undergraduate, the Buckeyes first game, played on May 3,1890, at Delaware, Ohio, against Ohio Wesleyan University, was a victory. OSUs first home game took place at 2,30 p. m. on November 1,1890, the Ohio State University played the University of Wooster on this site, which was then called Recreation Park. Just east of historic German Village, the park occupied the side of Schiller between Ebner and Jaeger in what is now Schumacher Place. The weather was perfect, and the crowd cheered loudly, nonetheless, OSU lost to Wooster, 64–0. Wooster, physically fit for the game, showed OSU that training is critical to winning, thus, the tradition of training continues. Over the next eight years, under a number of coaches, the played to a cumulative record of 31 wins,39 losses. The first game against the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, was a 34–0 loss in 1897, a year that saw the low point in Buckeye football history with a 1–7–1 record. Jack Ryder was Ohio States first paid coach, earning $150 per season, in 1899 the university hired John Eckstorm to bring professional coaching skills to the program and immediately went undefeated. In 1901, however, center John Segrist was fatally injured in a game against Western Reserve University, although the schools athletic board let the team decide its future, Eckstorm resigned

7.
Ohio State University
–
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State or OSU, is a large, primarily residential, public university in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and ninth university in Ohio with the Morrill Act of 1862, Hayes, and in 1878 the Ohio General Assembly passed a law changing the name to The Ohio State University. It has since grown into the third-largest university campus in the United States, along with its main campus in Columbus, Ohio State also operates a regional campus system with regional campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark, and Wooster. Ohio State athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are known as the Ohio State Buckeyes, athletes from Ohio State have won 100 Olympic medals. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference for the majority of sports, the Ohio State mens ice hockey program competes in the Big Ten Conference, while its womens hockey program competes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. In addition, the OSU mens volleyball team is a member of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, OSU is one of only 14 universities that plays Division I FBS football and Division I ice hockey. As of August 2015, the university had awarded a total of 714,512 degrees, alumni and former students have gone on to prominent careers in government, business, science, medicine, education, sports, and entertainment. Championed by the Republican stalwart Governor Rutherford B, Hayes, the Ohio State University was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university under the Morrill Act of 1862 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The school was originally within a community on the northern edge of Columbus. The university opened its doors to 24 students on September 17,1873, in 1878, the first class of six men graduated. The first woman graduated the following year, also in 1878, in light of its expanded focus, the Ohio legislature changed the name to the now-familiar The Ohio State University, with The as part of its official name. Ohio State began accepting students in the 1880s, and in 1891. It would later acquire colleges of medicine, dentistry, optometry, veterinary medicine, commerce, in 1916, Ohio State was elected into membership in the Association of American Universities. Michael V. Drake, former chancellor of the University of California, Irvine, in an attack against the campus on November 28,2016, an unrelated fluorine leak was called in for Watts Hall, resulting in the evacuation of the building to an outside courtyard. As firetrucks began to depart, Abdul Razak Ali Artan drove into the crowd, then emerged, the attack was stopped in under two minutes by OSU Police Officer Alan Horujko, who witnessed the attack after responding to the reported gas leak, and who shot and killed Artan. The universitys Buckeye Alert system was triggered and the campus was placed on lockdown, Ten were transported to local hospitals and one suspect was killed according to multiple sources. Local law enforcement and the FBI launched an investigation, according to authorities, Artan was inspired by terrorist propaganda from the Islamic State and radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Ohio States 1, 764-acre main campus is about 2.5 miles north of the citys downtown, the historical center of campus is the Oval, quad of about 11 acres

8.
Oklahoma Sooners football
–
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma. The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, the program began in 1895 and is one of the most successful programs since World War II with the most wins and the highest winning percentage since 1945. The program has 7 national championships,45 conference championships,154 All-Americans, Oklahoma is also the only program that has had four coaches with 100+ wins, including current head coach Bob Stoops. They became the sixth NCAA FBS team to win 850 games when they defeated the Kansas Jayhawks on November 22,2014, the Sooners play their home games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Football at Oklahoma made its start in September 1895,12 years before statehood, the team was organized by John A. Harts, a student from Winfield, Kansas who had played the game in his home state. That first team was composed of mostly non-students, including a local fireman and that first season saw the team go 0–1, being blanked 0–34 by a more experienced Oklahoma City Town Team. The first game was played on a field of low prairie grass just northwest of the current site of Holmberg Hall. Several members of the Oklahoma team were injured, including Coach Harts, and by the end of the game, after that year, Harts left Oklahoma to prospect for gold in the Arctic. The team got its first real coach in 1897 when the new modern language professor, Parrington played some football at Harvard and was more exposed to football coming from the East coast. In his four years as coach, Parringtons teams racked up nine wins, one loss. After the 1900 season, football began interfering with Parringtons teaching and he stepped down as head coach shortly thereafter and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1928 at the University of Washington. The Sooners had three more coaches over the four seasons. Fred Roberts led the Sooners to a 3–2 season in 1901, the most notable event of those four years came in 1904 when Oklahoma had its first match against its instate rival, Oklahoma A&M. The game was played on November 6,1904 at Mineral Wells Park in Guthrie, the Oklahoma team soundly defeated the Oklahoma Aggies 75–0, but it was an unusual touchdown that is remembered most of that game. Bedlam football, the rivalry between the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, was born that day. After ten years of football, the program began to get serious and they found Bennie Owen, a former quarterback of the undefeated Kansas team of 1899 led by famous coach Fielding H. Yost. Owens previous team beat Oklahoma twice in 1903 and 1904, so the Sooners were familiar with his ability, Owens first two years at Oklahoma were spent between Norman and Arkansas City as Oklahoma did not have a big enough budget to keep him there all year. The early years of Owens tenure were tough because of budget issues, due to a low travel budget, his teams would regularly have to play as many as three games in one trek

9.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
–
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. The team is coached by Brian Kelly. The team plays its games at the campuss Notre Dame Stadium. One of the most iconic and successful programs in sports, have 13 national championships recognized by the NCAA. With 486 players selected, Notre Dame is second to USC in the number of players chosen by NFL teams in the draft, all Notre Dame home games have been televised on NBC since 1991, and Notre Dame is the only school to have such a contract. It was the only independent program to be part of the Bowl Championship Series coalition and its guaranteed payout and these factors help make Notre Dame one of the most financially valuable football programs in the country, allowing them to remain independent of a conference. Football did not have a beginning at the University of Notre Dame. In their inaugural game on November 23,1887, the Irish lost to Michigan by a score of 8–0 and their first win came in the final game of the 1888 season when the Irish defeated Harvard Prep by a score of 20–0. At the end of the 1888 season they had a record of 1–3 with all three losses being at the hands of Michigan by a score of 43–9. Between 1887 and 1899 Notre Dame compiled a record of 31 wins,15 losses, in 1908, the win over Franklin saw end Fay Wood catch the first touchdown pass in Notre Dame history. By the end of the 1912 season they had amassed a record of 108 wins,31 losses, jesse Harper became head coach in 1913 and remained so until he retired in 1917. During his tenure the Irish began playing only intercollegiate games and posted a record of 34 wins, five losses and this period would also mark the beginning of the rivalry with Army and the continuation of rivalries with Michigan State. In 1913, Notre Dame burst into the consciousness and helped to transform the collegiate game in a single contest. In an effort to respect for a regionally successful but small-time Midwestern football program, Harper scheduled games in his first season with national powerhouses Texas, Penn State. On November 1,1913, the Notre Dame squad stunned the Black Knights of the Hudson 35–13 in a game played at West Point and this game has been miscredited as the invention of the forward pass. Knute Rockne became head coach in 1918, under Rockne, the Irish would post a record of 105 wins,12 losses, and five ties. During his 13 years the Irish won three championships, had five undefeated seasons, won the Rose Bowl in 1925, and produced players such as George Gipp. Knute Rockne has the highest winning percentage in NCAA Division I/FBS football history, Rocknes offenses employed the Notre Dame Box and his defenses ran a 7–2–2 scheme

10.
University of Northern Iowa
–
The University of Northern Iowa is a university located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, and Social and Behavioral sciences, and graduate college. UNIs accounting program has ranked in the top 10 universities in the nation for the pass rate of first-time candidates on the CPA Exam. Class sizes at UNI average around 32 students, they are taught by faculty. Tenured and tenure-track faculty teach 75 percent of UNIs classes, the Fall 2013 enrollment is 12,159. Ninety-two percent of its students are from the State of Iowa, the University of Northern Iowa was founded as a result of two influential forces of the nineteenth century. First, Iowa wanted to care for orphans of its Civil War veterans, in 1876, when Iowa no longer needed an orphan home, legislators Edward G. Miller and H. C. Hemenway started the Iowa State Normal School. The schools first building opened in 1869 and was known as Central Hall, the building contained classrooms, common areas, and a living facility for most of the students. It was also a home to the colleges first principal, James Cleland Gilchrist, the building was the heart and soul of the school, allowing students to study courses of two-year, three-year, and four-year degrees. In 1965, a fire destroyed Central Hall, and school faculty, the mean ACT composite and mean SAT total for admitted freshmen were 23.3 and 1035, respectively. That same year,1470 of 1822 transfer applicants were accepted, the University of Northern Iowa has a very active program of allowing students to pursue educational opportunities outside the state of Iowa and also the country. Students have the ability to study aboard or study at another North American institution though National Student Exchange, UNI has implemented a Liberal Arts Core in order to provide a common liberal-arts foundation for all undergraduate students. UNI provides an opportunity for the students to study in 80+ countries, in addition to semester and academic year programs students may choose to take part in summer, faculty-led, and short-term programs abroad. Over 50 study abroad programs are exchanges in which continue to pay UNI tuition to attend international partner schools. UNI also offers research, internship, and student teaching opportunities abroad, all exchange programs offer courses in English as well as training in the local language, if desired. Students interested in improving language skills have many program choices available to them through UNI Study Abroad programs. UNI Study Abroad Center also offers scholarships to qualified students studying overseas, Study Abroad participation is rapidly increasing at UNI as more financial support is being offered by individual campus colleges. Internationalization has been integrated into the most recent draft of UNIs Strategic Plan, additionally, the program has been recognized by the website Studyabroad101 and the Institute of International Education as one of the best in the nation

11.
Bradley University
–
Bradley University is a private, mid-sized university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University currently enrolls 5,400 students, pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs, all classes are taught by professors rather than teaching assistants. The university is accredited by 22 national accrediting agencies, including the Higher Learning Commission, students can participate in more than 240 student organizations, including the Lewis J. Burger Center for Student Leadership and Public Service, the Bradleys had discussed establishing an orphanage in memory of their deceased children. As a first step toward her goal, in 1892 she purchased a controlling interest in Parsons Horological School in LaPorte, Indiana, the first school for watchmakers in America, and moved it to Peoria. She specified in her will that the school should be expanded after her death to include an education as well as industrial arts. In October 1896 Mrs. Bradley was introduced to Dr. William Rainey Harper and he soon convinced her to move ahead with her plans and establish the school during her lifetime. Bradley Polytechnic Institute was chartered on November 13,1896, Mrs. Bradley provided 17.5 acres of land, $170,000 for buildings, equipment, and a library, and $30,000 per year for operating expenses. Contracts for Bradley Hall and Horology Hall were awarded in April, fourteen faculty and 150 students began classes in Bradley Hall on October 4—with 500 workers still hammering away. Bradley Polytechnic Institute was formally dedicated on October 8,1897 and its first graduate, in June 1898, was Cora Unland. Originally, the institute was organized as an academy as well as a two-year college. There was only one high school in the city of Peoria at the time. By 1920 the institute dropped the academy orientation and adopted a four-year collegial program, enrollment continued to grow over the coming decades and the name Bradley University was adopted in 1946. The Board of Trustees adopted the 2012-17 strategic plan on January 27,2012, the annual survey also recognized Bradley as the ninth best value Midwestern school in the ranking of Great Schools at Great Prices. The Bradley University Department of Teacher Education and College of Education, the University is also home to the Charley Steiner School of Sports Communication, the first such named school in the U. S. Each has its own requirements and varies in completion time. The program of physical therapy offers a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, Bradley University is among the first universities in the nation to have a school of entrepreneurship and the first established as a freestanding academic unit. The Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation is named in honor of Bob and Carolyn Turner, the Turners established the Robert and Carolyn Turner Center for Entrepreneurship in 2002

12.
Wisconsin Badgers football
–
The Wisconsin Badgers football team is the intercollegiate football team of University of Wisconsin–Madison. The Badgers have competed in the Big Ten Conference since its formation in 1896 and they play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football. Wisconsin has had two Heisman Trophy winners, Alan Ameche and Ron Dayne, and have had nine former players inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, as of January 2,2017, the Badgers have an all-time record of 685–489–53. The teams nickname originates in the history of Wisconsin. In the 1820s and 1830s, prospectors came to the looking for minerals. Without shelter in the winter, the miners had to live like badgers in tunnels burrowed into hillsides, the first Badger football team took the field in 1889, losing the only two games it played that season. In 1890, Wisconsin earned its first victory with a 106–0 drubbing of Whitewater Normal School, however, the very next week the Badgers suffered what remains their most lopsided defeat, a humiliating 63–0 loss at the hands of the University of Minnesota. Since then, the Badgers and Gophers have met 122 times, upon the formation of the Big Ten conference in 1896, Wisconsin became the first-ever conference champion with a 7–1–1 record. Over the next ten years, the Badgers won or shared the title three more times, and recorded their first undefeated season, going 9–0–0. With the exception of their undefeated season in 1912, in which they won their fifth Big Ten title. The 1912 season would be their last conference title until 1952, the team posted mostly winning seasons over the next several seasons however. 1942 was an important year for Wisconsin football, on October 24, the #6 ranked Badgers defeated the #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall, catapulting Wisconsin to the #2 spot in the AP poll. Unfortunately for the Badgers, their championship hopes were dashed in a 6–0 defeat by the Iowa Hawkeyes the following week. Nevertheless, Wisconsin won the remainder of its games, finishing the season 8–1–1 and #3 in the AP, afterwards, the Badgers struggled to regain their momentum, with their efforts hampered by many of their star players leaving as a result of World War II. In the late 1940s, fans began insisting that head coach Harry Stuhldreher resign, many times chanting Goodbye Harry, especially during 1948, Stuhldreher stepped down as head coach, while keeping his duties as athletic director. Stuhldreher then named Ivy Williamson as head coach The Badgers experienced great success during the 1950s under Williamson, in one stretch, from 1950-1954, the Badgers went 26-8-3. In 1952, the received its first #1 ranking by the Associated Press. That season, the Badgers again claimed the Big Ten title, there they were defeated 7–0 by the Southern California, and would finish the season ranked #11 in the AP